Remus Reflecting
by Nynayve
Summary: After the death of Sirius Black, Remus reflects on those he has loved and lost. The Weasley Twins make an appearance, and manage to distract him, while learning some valuable information.


Remus Lupin hid himself away in the Hogwarts kitchens. Sirius, his last true friend, was now dead. He had watched it happen, watched as Bellatrix cast her special curse, as Sirius, laughingly fighting his cousin, was hit, and fell in to the Veil buried deep in the Ministry. Remus briefly wondered how many of his friends would die because of that damned Veil.

The house elves, after supplying him with chocolate, Butterbeer, and _her_ Elderflower Wine, had hidden themselves in their own quarters. Remus's thoughts drifted through the years, until his mind was back at the castle in 1971, he and Peter discovering the kitchens for the very first time.

_"We shouldn't be down here, Remus!"_

_"James told us to find the Slytherin Common room, it has to be in a dungeon. Just be thankful we have this dungeon, and not other side of the Hall, that one is scarier."_

_"There's nothing down here, just a painting of fruit, and that hall way we checked a few hours ago, the one with the big tapestry of the badgers playing poker. Let's go." Peter pulled Remus's arm, trying to get him to walk back to the Entrance Hall._

_"No Pete, one last hall way, or James will send us back!" They played tug of war for a moment. Remus, the taller of the two, won, but in doing so, set Peter off kilter. The smaller boy fell into the painting beside them. As he struggled to get up, Remus trying to help, the painting, a bowl of fruit, began to laugh. As they stood, a small pear wiggled, popping out of the painting. The two boys looked at it a moment. Remus, in a fit of bravery, reached out and turned the pear. The painting swung forward, revealing a doorway._

_Activity inside ceased as the two boys crawled through. Four long tables were set up identical to the House Tables above them. House-elves were ranged across the room, carrying dishes from table to sink, some doing the washing, others drying. Silence filled the room as the elves and boys looked at each other, then chaos. As many as twenty-five house-elves swarmed around them, ushering them to a small table in the corner of the room, giving them food and drink, chattering away._

"Those were the days," Remus said to himself, smiling just a bit at his own cliche. He remembered Sirius, convinced he could turn water to rum in third year. Staring at his nearly empty wine bottle, he couldn't help laughing. "Eye of rabbit, harp string hum, turn this water, into rum!" Of course it doesn't work, the best he ever managed was tea, before exploding.

He tipped the bottle, drinking the last of the sweet wine. _She_ loved Elderflower. They both did, actually. Hermione had been caught sneaking sips from Remus and Sirius just last Christmas. The elf made white wine had a distinct flowery flavor, quite unlike anything he had ever tasted. _She_ liked it so much, she drank a whole case at James and Lily's wedding.

He set the bottle aside, and dropped his head on to the table with a soft _thunk_. Remus didn't hear the painting swing forward, or the soft whispers of two young men coming closer. They were sitting across from him when he jolted up, swearing as he fumbled for his wand.

"Easy, Professor, just us," one said.

"Mr. Weasley... and Mr. Weasley. I thought you two had left the school?"

"We had, but we left a few things behind."

"Hard to pack everything when you fly off on a broom."

"Oh? You forgot things down in the kitchens?" Remus asked, raising a skeptical brow.

"Okay, not really. The Order is looking for you. Dad told us to check Hogwarts, so we nicked - er, used our heads..." Fred trailed his words, glancing at George.

"Used our intuition, figured you would be in here, eating chocolate."

"Right. Boys, you can't fool me. I spent many years telling stories to my professors. How did you know?" Remus pulled three more bottles of Butterbeer from the case next to him, and passed them round.

The two red-heads shared a silent exchange, very reminiscent of the ones James and Sirius used to have. Remus had little trouble following the gist of the conversation: Fred willing to share the story, George hesitant. Fred won in the end, and he told the tale.

"See, in first year, we were in Filch's office, when he was called away. Think Peeves dropped something, but that's unimportant."

"While he was out, we saw a drawer marked 'Confiscated and Highly Dangerous', so of course, we opened it." George continued.

"Inside there wasn't a whole lot, just a bag of smoking rocks, and a folded parchment. We nicked the parchment, but decided to leave the rocks, they looked like Doxy droppings, honestly."

"After, we ducked out of detention, and in our dorm, tapped the parchment a bit. It was giving us clues, kept saying, 'Only those up to no good can use this map' and 'Those who solemnly swear to misbehave may have use this map'."

"Took a few hours, but we finally opened it. It was a map of Hogwarts, with people all over it, showing where everyone was." Fred finished. Neither noticed the shocked look on Remus's face.

"Anyway," George continued, "We nicked it from Harry's room tonight, to find you. We gave it to him a few years ago, we have it memorized."

Silence descended. Remus couldn't believe his ears. The map had been found after all those years. He often wondered if someone had taken it from Filch, or if the cranky old care taker had destroyed it. After a few minutes, he took a swig of his drink to wet his throat.

"This map. Did it have a banner over the top?"

"Yeah, with lots of swirling ends, how did you know?" George asked.

Remus smiled. "I solemnly swear that I am up to no good, boys. Messrs Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot-" Remus's voice caught in his throat, but he pushed on, "and Prongs, Purveyors and Aides to Magical Mischief Makers, are proud to present-"

"The Marauder's Map!" said the three together.

"Professor! You know about the map?" exclaimed Fred.

"Course I do. I helped write it. My friends and I were all over the castle, but one of us would always get lost, or caught, so we began the map. Finished it, by third year, but it took us a few more years to get the spells just right. As soon as we declared it perfect, near the end of 7th year, Wormy went and got caught with it."

"Merlin!" the boys exclaimed.

"So that means... You must be Moony!" Fred said, his face shining in awe.

"Yes, I was Moony."

"Who where the others? We've wanted to meet the Marauders for years now!" George asked, leaning forward slightly.

Remus sat silent for a moment, lost in thought. Finally, he said, "Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot and Prongs... Marauders. Yes, yes we were marauders. McGonagall named us, you know. Moony... Obviously, because I am a werewolf. The others did the only thing they thought they could do to help me, and against my better judgment. They became Animagus."

The twins knew this, of course, from Harry, but they let the aged professor speak. They had spent hours questioning Harry, Ron and Hermione, but all three thought it was funnier to not tell the twins the real identity of their idols.

"Padfoot..." Remus choked again when speaking of Sirius. But their legacy had lived on in these two pranksters, they deserved to know who the Marauders were. "Padfoot was Sirius Black. The second Marauder to die fighting Voldemort."

George and Fred shared a look, and raised their glass to a fallen hero. Drinking deep of the Butterbeer, they waited for Remus to continue.

"Wormtail is a traitor. He no longer deserves to be a Marauder. But, while we were at school, he was loyal and caring. Almost a second personality. Peter Pettigrew... May his tail rot off." Remus drank the last of his Butterbeer, chucked the bottle in the bin, and reached under the table for another bottle. This time, it was _her_ wine. Fighting a fresh wave of tears, he took a sip of the sweet stuff, and sighed.

"Lastly, Prongs. I'm surprised Harry never told you, though it is fitting that James's son should now own the Map." Smiling at the shocked looks, he nodded. "Yes, James Potter was Prongs."

"Wow Professor, we never knew."

"Yeah, we asked Harry, but he said we should find out for ourselves!"

"Now you know, boys. And now the Marauders are officially disbanded; two dead, one a traitor, and I am the only one left. It is good for my soul to know you found our map, and took it upon yourselves to wreck havoc upon the school. I hear you both have some pretty amazing inventions."

The boys had the grace to act modest, but quickly gave in and agreed. Remus laughed, letting himself believe, just for one minute, that he was back in his Hogwarts days, sitting at this very table, with the people he loved most in the world. Closing his eyes, he could almost see it...

_"The kitchens! But we will get in trouble!"_

_"Lily-love, haven't you learned by now? We don't care about getting in trouble!"_

_"Come on Lily, enjoy, you can have anything you want down here!" Sirius's laughter rang out as he and Peter started a food fight, involving the others quickly._

_Remus sat at his favorite spot at the short table, watching them all run around. The house-elves scattered as the food started to fly, knowing that if they didn't, they would be pressed to join the war. The two girls were launching chunks raw cookie dough at a laughing James, Sirius and Peter, who were retaliating with diced veggies. After several moments, the boys stormed the girls, bringing them to the floor in gales of giggles, tickling them. Fiery red and deep brown mixed on the tiled floor and the two tried to escape._

_Later, all sitting round the table. Lily in James's lap as he fed her grapes, giggling between mouthfuls. Peter and Sirius launching marshmallows at each others mouths, and _her_ pressed against his side, reading over his shoulder as he studied _Advanced Transfiguration_. Scowling as she snatched his book, running after her. Bribing her with the Elderflower Wine she loved so very much._

Remus's thoughts broke as Harry, Ron and Hermione entered through the portrait hole. They joined the three at the table, and soon, were all listening to Remus tell tales of his days at Hogwarts. Most of his stories centered around Sirius and James. He avoided mentioning Peter. He spoke of Lily in nearly every story, usually to relay how much she had yelled. He didn't mention _her._ But he did drink more of her wine.

* * *

This has been nipping at the back of my head for weeks now. I always kind of wondered when Fred and George would discover who the Marauders were, and under what circumstances. I'm sure this isn't what happened, in fact, I'm willing to bet they found out in Grimmauld place with Sirius and Remus to tell the take, but I like this. I was a but uncertain about posting it, because it involves a character whose fate hasn't been announced yet. However, I think I left it vague enough so that it wont matter. For anyone who wants to know who "_she_" is, read my story, Solemnly Swear, which is a work in progress. If you knew who she was before the end of this little fic, tell me and I give you cookies :)


End file.
